Save a horse

Save A Horse ― Buy A Calendar

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. The year is still new so go ahead and buy this special calendar and help save one of the thousands of healthy, lovely and loving American horses that are slaughtered every year.

You can purchase this calendar at Hoofprints.com. It was created by a group of horse lovers watching horses going to an auction house and deciding to make a difference. Since the effort began in November 2009, no horses have shipped to slaughter from the auction house, and well over 2,000 horses have been purchased and re-homed out of just one feedlot.

Printed on heavy card stock, the photography is exceptional. Each month features another beautiful horse, photographed by well-known professional photographer Sarah K. Andrew.

Every month you meet another horse whose life path should have taken it to fields of clover and sunshine on its back. The horses, thoroughbreds, Appaloosa’s, paints, chestnuts and Belgian, colts, mares, geldings and stallions, are magnificent, proud, standing tall.

Please spread the word that horses are being sent to slaughter in greater numbers than ever before. Let's put a stop to this unnecessary practice NOW.

I will be on sabbatical for the month of February. See you in March.

Botanical behemoths are dying

Photograph: Charles Mauzy/Corbis

The biggest trees in the world, known as the true ecological kings of the jungle, are dying off rapidly as roads, farms and settlements fragment forests, and they come under prolonged attack from severe droughts and new pests and diseases. Read more here.

View a slideshow of these trees here.

The shapes of trees III

As I wrote earlier, deciduous trees reveal their beautiful, fine bone structure in winter and the natural shape of their habit. Note the classic oval shape of this tree.

The shapes of trees II

Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica)

The natural weeping habit of this willow is revealed in winter. Even bare, it retains its ethereal appearance. Weeping willows are one of the first trees to leaf out in spring and one of the last to drop their leaves in fall.

These trees grow very fast, up to 10 feet per year, until reaching a height of up to 50 feet. Because of this rapid growth, they have a relatively short lifespan ― 20 to 30 years.

This willow does best on a large property where it can spread out and grow into the majestic tree that it is. And because willows love to have "wet feet," a site near a pond, stream bank or in a low-lying wet area is ideal. Click on the photo for a closer view.

The shapes of trees

These trees have a classic vase shape

It is the beginning of a brand new year and instead of making resolutions, I choose to be more aware of the beauty that surrounds me.

The shapes of bare trees in winter are extraordinary. These two, adorned with blue sky and a few wispy clouds, are lovely in every way. Once undressed, deciduous trees reveal their fine bone structure and the natural shape of their habit: vase; oval; round; pyramid; column, horizontal, and weeping.

More to come on the shapes of trees.